(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
Our featured Scripture is Proverbs 3:6 and 7: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” And in the last Gem, we spent some time on “…lean not on your own under- standing…”, that is, leaning the wrong way! Now let’s see what this proverb says about leaning the right way!
Let’s put the first and last parts of the proverb together: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart…in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
• “Trust in the LORD...” – We are to trust in the LORD with
our whole being – with all our heart, with all our soul,
with all our mind, and with all our strength! But what
does it mean to trust the LORD? In The New Scofield
Reference Bible, annotates Psalm 2:12. The verse closes
Psalm 2 with this: “Blessed are all they who put their
trust in Him [the King enthroned in Jerusalem – Jesus
Christ].” The annotation of the word trust reads thus:
Trust is the characteristic O.T. word for the
N.T. “faith” and “believe.” It occurs 152 times
in the O.T., and is the rendering of the Hebrew
words signifying to take refuge...to lean on...
to roll on...[and] to wait for....
Perhaps we could say that trust is to have faith enough to
act upon what you have faith in! That is trusting in God
with our whole being!
But why should we trust God? Because He has proved to be trust-worthy!
✞ The testimony of His saints, written centuries
ago, or of today, especially those who have
walked with Jesus for a long time, testify to
His trustworthiness, His faithfulness. I have
been a Christian for 55 years and, although I
have let myself down many times, the Lord has
never failed in being faithful to me! I know
I can trust Him!
✞ The testimony of His Word shines forth the truth
of God being trustworthy! It is not just the re-
cord of His work to and through Bible aints. That
Record is a living Word (see Hebrews 4:12), able
to increase our faith and trust! (See Romans 10:
17).
Notice there are two ‘all ’s in this short two-verse proverb:
• “...with all your heart...” – In both Old and New
Testaments we find this phrase up to 29 times, de-
pending upon the Bible version. The first one that
might come to mind is the Great Commandment found
in...
✞ Deuteronomy 6:5 – “You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your might.”
✞ Mark 12:30 – “...you shall love the LORD your
God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
While Jesus adds strength to the equation, both references of
the Great Commandment promote the idea that we are to love God
with our whole being, both...
✞ the inner self – heart, soul, and mind, and...
✞ the outer self – strength.
• “…in all your ways…” – This is everything that comes out
of our mind, heart, soul, and strength – everything out
of our whole being – every thought, word, and action!
• “…acknowledge Him…” – It sounds like a nodding acquaintance,
to just acknowlege Him. Far from it! Acknowledge in Hebrew
is ידע (pronounced yaw-dah’). There are so many definitions
for the word in Greek dictionaries, it might help if we
listed how other Bible versions translate it:
✞ “In all your ways give ear to Him...”
(Bible in Basic English).
✞ “Always let Him lead you...”
(Contemporary English Version).
✞ “In all your ways think on Him...”
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible).
✞ “With every step you take, think about what
He wants...” (Easy-to-Read Version).
✞ “Remember the LORD in everything you do...”
(Good News Bible).
✞ “In all thy ways know thou Him...”
(1898 Young’s Literal Translation).
Realizing God is with us in everything we do, say, or think, we must not lean on our own understanding (see the last Gem), but we must instead let Him lead us…
• “…and He shall direct your paths.” There are many paths
we might take, but only one right way! That one is the
One! For Jesus said in Matthw 7:13 and 14:
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate
and broad is the way that leads to destruction,
and there are many who go in by it. Because
narrow is the gate and difficult is the way
which leads to life, and there are few who
find it.
That broad way is the wrong way, comprised of the many
ways people try to connect with God. But they all lead
to destruction! (See Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). The narrow
gate is Jesus, the only right way! As He said in John
10:10, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me.”
Follow Proverbs 3:5 and 6! You will not go wrong!